World briefs 11/12/02

EU officials say Turkey can become member

BRUSSELS, Belgium -- The European Union said Monday that Turkey can become a member if it meets entry requirements, rejecting statements by a former French president that the predominantly Muslim nation is not suited to join the group.

Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, said Turkey can join the 15-nation union based on "the same criteria as the other candidate countries."

European Union leaders will decide at a Dec. 12-13 summit in Copenhagen, Denmark, whether to give Turkey a date to start talks on its union entry, Stig Moeller said.

Gates gives $100 million to fight AIDS in India

NEW DELHI, India -- Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates pledged $100 million Monday to fight AIDS in India, a dramatic initiative he said would focus on helping women protect themselves from careless partners.

The $100 million contribution from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is the largest grant the organization has given to a country to fight the deadly virus.

The foundation is funded by the Microsoft founder's personal wealth, which Forbes magazine estimated in September at $43 billion.

"I realized about 10 years ago that my wealth has to go back to society," said Gates, a father of three who says he was influenced by his own parents' practice of regularly donating to charity.

British firefighters, guards plan airport strikes

LONDON -- The union that represents firefighters and security guards at British airports plans a series of one-day strikes that could disrupt travel during the winter holidays.

If the strikes go on as planned, London's Heathrow and Gatwick airports and five others would not be able to operate on the six strike days in November, December and January, said Tim Lyle, national officer for the Transport and General Workers Union.

BAA PLC, which runs airports around Britain, said it was considering contingency measures to allow operations to continue if workers walk off the job.

Union members approved the strikes to protest a contract offer from BAA. Workers see the wage offer as inadequate given increased workloads following the Sept. 11 attacks.

The strike dates are Nov. 28, Dec. 2, 10, 15 and 23 and Jan. 2; the other airports are Stansted, Southampton, Aberdeen, Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Mexico destroys 8.4 million pounds of coffee

ACAPULCO, Mexico -- Mexican coffee growers ground 8.4 million pounds of low-quality beans into fertilizer as part of an international effort to halt plunging coffee prices.

The 63,000 sacks of coffee destroyed Sunday came from across the country, but much of it was from the southern state of Guerrero, one of Mexico's major coffee-growing regions. Mexico exports about 1 million sacks of coffee each year.

Mexico pledged to reduce its coffee exports by 5 percent each year as part of an agreement reached earlier with the International Coffee Organization, an intergovernmental body of 45 exporting countries and 18 importing countries.

Colombian head of bishops group kidnapped

BOGOTA, Colombia -- A Colombian bishop who heads the Latin American bishop's conference was kidnapped Monday in an area where leftist rebels are active, a Catholic priest said.

Bishop Jorge Enrique Jimenez, head of Zipaquira cathedral just outside of Bogota, was abducted along with another clergy member as they traveled to perform a religious ceremony in the town of Pacho, 35 miles north of the capital, Father Raul Alfonso Carrillo told Radionet radio.

Carrillo, who works at Jimenez's church, said he was told about the kidnapping by the men's driver, who was also captured but then released.

Gen. Carlos Alberto Ospina, commander of the Colombian army, called on Colombians to help find Jimenez. He offered a reward of about $37,000 for help in finding him.-- From wire reports